Cobra Biomanufacturing to support development of HIV vaccine platform
UK-based Cobra Biomanufacturing has signed an agreement with the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) in the US to develop a scalable production process for a novel HIV vaccine platform utilising URMC's herpes simplex virus (HSV) amplicon vector technology.
UK-based Cobra Biomanufacturing has signed an agreement with the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) in the US to develop a scalable production process for a novel HIV vaccine platform utilising URMC's herpes simplex virus (HSV) amplicon vector technology.
Under the agreement, Cobra will perform process optimisation and scale-up studies to support GMP production of amplicons for clinical supply.
The HSV-1 amplicon vector is a novel, virus-based, helper virus-free vaccine delivery system. This vector has unique properties that differentiate it from all other vector approaches presently in development, and has been shown to be capable of eliciting strong immune responses against an encoded HIV-1 antigen in preclinical animal studies.
"Forging a successful partnership with a highly qualified CMO, such as Cobra Biomanufacturing, is an essential step along the critical path for clinical implementation of the versatile amplicon vector platform," said Dr William Bowers, Associate Professor of Neurology at URMC and one of the principals of the amplicon programme.